In her Diner’s Guide To Brno, Anthea Gerrie Discovers Michelin Has Missed A Trick In Not Including Two Of Her Own Personal Favourites.
When Michelin inspectors arrived in Brno for the first time this year they must have been overwhelmed by the sophistication of the culinary scene which has long thrived in the second city of the Czech Republic without any impetus from the red guide and its inspectors.
This frequent visitor has been eating well for the past few years in the vibrant student city on the doorstep of Czechia’s prime wine-making region – and I’m still making new discoveries including restaurants, pubs and cafes the Michelin men have evidently not discovered yet whose offerings are absolutely worthy of inclusion.
Element
The three Michelin and I agree on are all within walking distance of a highly strollable city centre punctuated with squares and avenues, but quite different in character. Element is the only traditional storefront restaurant, and while its steak tartare (around £13) is the best I’ve ever tasted despite the rather silly porcelain marrowbone which is part of the assembly, the restaurant is most notable for its wine list, the place where I learnt some fantastic pinot noir is made in Moravia, Czechia’s fertile southern province.
And where this year I had a cocktail for dessert – the sparkling wine beaten into lemon sorbet known as Sgroppino (around £8.25) I last enjoyed for dessert on the banks of a Venetian canal. The menu can be a bit hit and miss – no sign this year of the beautiful zander (pike-perch) listed last summer I was looking forward to, but the tartare with its generous sourdough toast is rich enough for a main and Element delights with its decor, a beautiful blend of carefully distressed finishes, and exemplary service; ask for recommendations from the sommelier.
Atelier
Having sought out the pinot noir tasted at Element last year, I splurged on an even better one sampled this summer at Atelier, which you might not recognise as a restaurant at all if you stumbled upon it without spotting the sign outside. Actually a set of very casual tables arranged in the courtyard of a confluence of old buildings a few steps from the main square lined with deckchairs to create a social hub, Atelier wheels out sublime dishes on its short menu from a hidden kitchen.
My hostess raved about a succulent steak she had enjoyed here years ago and is still savouring, but I was in a fishy mood and went for a piece of sea trout cooked to perfection and served in a delectable and nutritious blanket of crayfish bisque with celery puree and chestnut crumble(around £18). A crudo of sea bream (around £12) showed the kitchen was as adept with raw fish as cooked, and the pinot was light and elegant enough not to overwhelm its delicate flavours.
Kohout Na Vine
Kohout Na Vine, which emblemises fine food more than either of these two is a little harder to find, a subterranean treasure within a park a couple of blocks stroll away towards the museum of modern art. Its signature dish, for which the restaurant is named, is a fine-free range rooster, served with a rich gravy enriched with red fruit the night I last dined there. It followed an elegant starter of burrata with many kinds of heirloom tomatoes arranged into a complex salad.
Butter as well as bread was home-made, dessert was a unique take on chocolate mousse with a savoury ice-cream and there are two versions of a tasting menu for those with enough appetite to taste what else the chef is capable of creating (around £46) besides a centrepiece of rooster, duck or game in season. Expect a fine list of homegrown wines here as well.
I did not get to the couple of Michelin choices which sit outside the city but could not imagine coming to Brno without visiting my all-time favourite brewery restaurant and garden cafe.
Lokal U Caipla
Lokal U Caipla is incredibly lively and well-subscribed, dominated by huge barrels of the country’s glorious Pilsner Urquell beer, behind which there’s a more intimate and quiet corner to perch at a table behind the horseshoe-shaped main room.
The frankfurters are every bit as delicious as you might expect – I always order the selection of three different kinds served with mustard and a pile of grated horseradish (around £5) – but should be preceded by one of the rich, fatty starters which make such good companions for good bread (Czech baked goods are excellent) like dripping, pate or the signature fried artisan cheese from a named farm served with buttered potatoes (around £11).
Main courses like richly-braised short ribs are served in such large portions it’s fine to ask for a half-serving if you really want to taste them in addition to the world’s best sausages – I did try and it was delicious overkill. Oh, to be there on St Martin’s Day, November 11, when the restaurant roasts a rich goose for all-comers.
Podnebi
As for the garden cafe, Podnebi Is the loveliest setting imaginable for an alfresco breakfast, brunch or teatime treat. Tucked away adjacent to a park down an alley off Husova, a street served by trams on which both the excellent Museum of Applied Arts and the Brno Philharmonic sit, separated by the mid-century International Hotel International which is a delightful and convenient place to stay.
Podnebi serves divine banana pancakes with apple compote and toasted walnuts (around £6.50) as well as a wide selection of beautifully prepared egg dishes, good coffee and classic Czech pastries. It’s worth climbing the precarious outdoor staircase to sit in the garden, although Podnebi also operates an ice-cream shop and pub and street level.
Brno Highlights.
Only 90 minutes by train from Vienna, just over two hours from Prague, Brno is a must-visit destination for architecture lovers, with its UNESCO World Heritage Site property Villa Tugendhat, the last residential masterpiece by Mies van der Rohe before he left Europe for the USA.
It’s part of a villa trail which includes some beautiful older homes with gardens, and other visitor highlights include Spilberk Castle, the amazing ossuary beneath St James’s Church in which mediaeval skulls have been assembled into artful displays and beautiful Cabbage Square lined with cafes from which to overlook the huge, cobbled expanse where vegetable-sellers ply their produce daily.
But it’s worth coming here just to eat; look for an expanded selection from Michelin once the inspectors have branched out to explore more informal local favourites where you need to avoid prime time to be sure of finding a table.
Tell Me More About this Diner’s Guide To Brno
Brno is served by direct flights from London by Ryanair
Element, Behounska 108/7, 602 00 Brno
T: +420 725 912 467
Atelier, Koblizna 71/2, 602 00 Brno
T: +420 731 199 434
Kohout na Vine, House of Arts, Malinovskeno 652/2, 602 00 Brno
T: +420 777 904 570
Lokal U Caipla Kozi 115/3, 602 00 Brno
T: +420 731 594 671
Cafe Podnebí, Udolni 5, 602 00 Brno
T: +420 542 211 372
